


Put Your Lips Together (blow the candle out)

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Gen, Happy Birthday Shiro (Voltron), Platonic Kissing, Platonic Relationships, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 05:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17975216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: It was supposed to be a normal morning, until his team started acting strange.  Shiro goes along with it as best he can, confused and fond.Really, he should have seen this coming.





	Put Your Lips Together (blow the candle out)

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be done yesterday. It was not. You get it today instead.
> 
> This is also shamelessly inspired by the surprisingly numerous pieces of art I've seen of Shiro covered in multi-colored lipstick prints. It's a mood so I wrote it.

Shiro’s bangs curled wetly against his face.  He reached up and swatted them away impatiently, then made a face as a drop of water dripped down his forehead and off his nose, onto the screen of his techpad.  

Maybe he should have given himself more time to dry off before he got dressed.

He shifted his grip so he could wipe the drip away with his sleeve before it could do any damage.  Then he went back to scrolling through the many, many messages he always managed to accumulate overnight.  Apparently the remains of the Galaxy Garrison were even worse insomniacs than he was.

“Ah, there you are.  Good morning, Shiro.”

Shiro’s head snapped up, focusing on Allura in front of him.  Then he looked down again, quickly checking the time. Just after 0700, and far earlier than Allura usually wandered out for breakfast.

Odd.

Also odd was that something seemed subtly off about Allura.  His eyes travelled up and down, then over her face, trying to figure out what was strange.  But he couldn’t see anything that stood out, so the difference must be subtle, or else he was utterly making it up.

“Good morning,” Shiro replied, straightening.  As he did, he felt another drop of water run down his neck and soak into the collar of his fabric.  He definitely should have dried off better. He would have, if he’d known he’d be running into more people, most especially the princess.  “Did you need something?”

“Actually, yes.  It’ll be easier to show you than explain.  Would you mind heading to the bridge?” Allura folded her hands demerly in front of her, head tilted.

Shiro’s brows jumped up to his hairline.  That sounded important, but her tone and body language were both so casual.

He nodded, holding the pad loosely against his chest.  “Of course.” Shiro continued forward, since he’d been heading in the right direction to begin with, then paused when Allura didn’t move to follow.  “Are you coming?”   
  
“I’ll meet you there,” Allura said easily, a smile pulling at her lips.  “But before you go...” She stepped forward, and grew with the motion, until they were just an inch apart in height.  

Then she pecked Shiro at the top of his cheek, just under his eye.

Shiro froze, stunned by the sudden kiss.  Slowly, his hand came up, touching over the spot she’d so briefly brushed.  “Allu- Princess. What?”

“You’ll understand soon,” she assured him, so perky and cheerful that she had be be copying Coran.  “The bridge, please.”

Shiro continued to stare, then finally gave a single, sharp nod.  “I- okay.” What else could he say to that. How was he supposed to react at all?  “You’ll be there soon?”

“Very soon,” Allura agreed, still in that same tone.  She gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Off you go.”

Blinking rapidly, Shiro continued on, not sure at all what had just happened.  He finally pulled his fingers away from his hand and looked down at the tips. They were covered in pale pink.

Oh.  That was why Allura’s face had been different.  She was wearing a different color of lipstick. Huh.

Shiro barely made it down the next hallway before he nearly ran into two more people.  He stumbled back, hands up to apologize, before he registered who it was.

While it was common enough to see Hunk up early for a current baking or engineering project, Shiro was pretty sure he’d never seen Lance voluntarily awake and dressed at this hour, barring an emergency.

Something was definitely going on.

“Good morning,” Shiro said, looking between them both.  “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me happening?”

Hunk grinned, which emphasized the fact that he was wearing lipstick too, in shining gold.  “You’re a pretty smart guy. You’ll figure it out if you haven’t.”

Lance snickered and nodded, his eyes stuck on Shiro’s cheek.  Where the pink kiss mark from Allura was pressed into his skin.  “Looks like Allura already found you.” He tapped his chin, pseudo thoughtful, but really just pointing to his own blue lipstick.  Which seemed to be glittery.

Eyeing them both, Shiro crossed his arms.  “She did,” he agreed, tone tight between his amusement and trepidation.  “Should I still be heading to the bridge?”

“Yup.”  Then, without anymore pleasantries exchanged, Lance lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Shiro’s throat, draping dramatically.  Then he pressed a loud, smacking kiss to the middle of Shiro’s cheek, before switching sides with just as much enthusiasm.

Shiro’s eyes slammed shut automatically, even as he fumbled his tech pad so he could help steady Lance.  He tried to keep up the stern look, but it cracked into a smile. “Are you going to get glitter all over me?”

Laughing, Lance pulled away and smoothed out Shiro’s uniform.  “Only on your face, it’s fine.” Then he gave Shiro a last, extra-hard smack in the middle of the chest, before backing out of the way.  “All yours, buddy.”

Hunk stepped up, trying and failing to bite back snickers.  He paused, checking to make sure Shiro wasn’t upset, before pressing a firm kiss between his brows.  When he pulled back, he examined the spot closerly, then pressed his lips there again. “This shade doesn’t make as nice lip prints, sorry.”

“I’ll manage,” Shiro said, brows up.  “Seriously, this is nice and all, but what’s going on?”

The pair of them shared a glance, and then Hunk shook his head.  “You’ll know really soon. I’m surprised you don’t already. Are you actually confused, or are you being bashful?”

“Very confused.”

Lance rocked back on his heels, smirking.  “We knocked Shiro off balance. Who knew it only took a complicated conspiracy and colorful lipstick?”

Rolling his eyes, Shiro didn’t bother to hide his smile.  “Hopefully the Galra will never discover this weakness. Should I keep going, then?”

“Yeah, go for it.”  Hunk patted Shiro on the arm and made a grand, sweeping gesture down the hall.  “Your great quest awaits, Sir Paladin.”

Shiro ducked his head at the tease, but it didn’t stop the wide smile from ruining the effect.  This was just all so  _ silly, _ and he still had no idea why he was getting hunted down and covered in rainbow lip prints.  But it wasn’t harmful, and they were clearly having fun. Besides, the open affection was nice.

So Shiro gave a fluid bow and began to walk again.  “Not quite as important a quest as killing a leviathan, but I can manage this.”

“It’s pretty important.  We’ll meet you there, you nerd.”  Lance shot him a grin and waved him off as Shiro continued onward.

This time, he rounded the corner carefully, and wasn’t surprised to see Pidge sitting against the wall, clearly waiting for him.  Her head was down, focused on her laptop, but as Shiro approached she looked up, revealing deep green lipstick.

“My turn?” Pidge asked, putting aside her laptop.

Shiro spread his arms in bland welcome.  “Apparently. Add to the collection.”

“That’s the plan.”  She stood up and put her hands on her hips as she surveyed him.  “I guess we’re lucky that Lance didn’t cover half your face just for fun.”

“I’m not sure his lipstick would have lasted long enough.”

Pidge inclined her head, acknowledging the point, then crooked a finger.  “Alright, you giant, bend down a little.”

One brow up, Shiro straightened further, holding his arms behind him in perfect military posture.  “Why?”

“Hah.”  Pidge shot him a playful scowl, then took hold of his uniform flap and yanked down.  The fabric strained, so Shiro obligingly bent over before she could rip anything.

Once he was close enough, Pidge smoothed Shiro’s bangs out of the way and kissed him right in the middle of his forehead.

Shiro smiled, both at the care and the action.  “Thank you for not staining my hair green.”

“Just your face.”  Pidge patted him on the cheek, then let go.  “Perfect. Now, go o-”

Before she could finish, Coran stuck his head around the next corner.  “Is he coming yet? Oh! Hello, Number One!” He smiled, the corners of his now orange lips blending with the sides of his mustache.

“Hello, Coran.”  Shiro smiled at him.  “Getting impatient?”

“I wasn’t sure you had started yet.”  Coran pulled down his shirt, playing for casual.

Shiro huffed out a quiet laugh, then gave Pidge a pat on the shoulder before heading over.  “Go on.”

A wide, toothy smile spread over Coran’s face.  He grabbed Shiro firmly by his upper arms, then yanked him in and kissed him square on the lips.

Dignity be damned, Shiro stiffened and sputtered in shock.  When he pulled away, Coran looked him over, then glanced over Shiro’s shoulder at Pidge.  “Was that incorrect.”

“Nope,” Pidge said, shooting him a thumbs up.  “Perfect.”

“I did think your practice of kissing was similar to our own.”  Coran finally let Shiro go, tilting his head. “Is there a problem?”

Shiro swallowed hard.  “No, I was just startled.”  All the other kisses had been somewhere much more platonic.  A lip kiss on its own could easily be platonic as well, but it was a little different when it left a bright orange print.

Even so, it was clearly meant warmly, so Shiro smiled.  “I suspect that color doesn’t agree with me, but thank you, Coran.”

“Nonsense.  You look just fine.”  Coran adjusted Shiro’s uniform, fixing one of the buttons that Pidge had disturbed with her grab.  “Nearly there now.” With that, he stepped out of the way.

Shiro took a deep breath, looking between them both.  “Did you manage to get Keith in on this?”

Crossing her arms, Pidge sighed.  “Well, he  _ has _ the lipstick tube.  That’s the best I can say.”

Yeah, that sounded about right.  Shiro smiled fondly at them. “I could have told you that.  Alright, I assume I’ll see you all soon.”

Coran waved and gave him a gentle shove in the middle of his back.  Shiro took the hint and continued on.

The door to the bridge waited at the end of the current hallway.  At the end, Keith leaned against the wall, arms crossed and one heel resting casually against the metal.  He perked as Shiro approached, brows up and gaze keen.

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what’s going on,” Shiro said, without much hope as he walked up.  He tucked his tech pad under his arm, and wished he hadn’t had it for this whole, strange series of events.  It was really just getting in the way, now.

Keith snorted.  “You should really know.  It’s your own fault if you haven’t been paying attention.”  Then, before Shiro could retort, he tilted his head. “You’re colorful.”

“I know you know why.”  Shiro reached up as if to touch, but pulled back at the last second before he could smear any of the prints.  “Whose idea was this?”

“A group effort.  In that weird way, where someone had a bad idea, and it got refined into something actually doable.”

Shiro’s brows jumped up to his hairline.  “You mean all our plans.”

“Yeah, exactly like that.”  Keith shook his head, eyeing him.  “I’m surprised. I figured you’d shut this down as soon as you realized what was going on.”

Pausing, Shiro considered him.  “Why did you think that?”

Keith hesitated, arms tightening against his chest.  “Not that I thought you’d be mad, but... a bunch of people in your face, leaving kiss marks?  You’re affectionate, but it’s kind of silly, and you care about stuff like your appearance.”

It was a fair point.  Shiro considered that, gaze distant and thoughtful.  “Well, if you’d asked me yesterday if I wanted this to happen, then you’re right.  I would have said not to bother, I think. But as far as a surprise, it’s been fun.  Silly, yes, but still fun.”

“Huh.”  Keith nodded slowly, then dug into his pocket.  “Okay.” Simple as that, he pulled out a tube of lipstick.  Popping off the top, Keith started to apply it.

Wincing, Shiro held up a hand to stop him.  “Wait, let me get you a mirror. Or I can do it.  You can’t see what you’re doing.”

“Too late.”  Keith finished smearing it on.  It was just two stripes, completely ignoring the cupid’s bow of his top lip, and applied outside of the boundaries at the corners.  But he didn’t seem to care at all, and just waited for Shiro to come closer.

Shiro frowned, then dug into his pockets.  “One second, I have a tissue. We can fix it before it dries.”

“Shiro!”  Keith rolled his eyes, then grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in.  He pressed a slow, firm kiss to the bottom of his left jaw, clearly aiming to leave a good mark.  “I don’t care, okay? I just want you to have fun.”

“Oh.”  Shiro’s expression softened.  “I am having fun. Promise.” He finally fished out the napkin. “Please?”

Sighing, Keith tilted his head back and closed his eyes.  “Fine, fine, fuss if you have to.”

“Thank you.”  Shiro took the corner and carefully clean up at least the edges, where it looked like Keith had a small child apply the lipstick for him.  There were a couple other spots where the coverage wasn’t clean, but just talking would eventually even out the color. “There we go.”

“Feel better?”

“Yes, sorry.”  Intellectually, Shiro understood and appreciated that Keith really didn’t care about something as silly as misapplied lipstick.  But  _ Shiro _ would, knowing people would see it for as long as it was on.  So no, it didn’t matter at all, except that Shiro wanted to protect Keith from even that mild teasing.

Luckily, Keith seemed more fond than annoyed, even as she shook his head.  “Alright, if you’re satisfied, can we go into the bridge now?”

“Are we waiting for-?”  Shiro looked back, just in time to see thick, curly white hair disappear behind the corner.  Apparently they’d been following and waiting on him. “Ah. No, apparently not.”

Keith’s lip quirked up at the corner.  “Close your eyes.”

Apparently there was more to come.  Shiro considered teasingly protesting, but at this point he really wanted to know what was going on.  So he obeyed, closing his eyes and offering his arm to help guide him.

Keith took it, and the door to the bridge opened.  They walked inside and paused. “Keep them closed,” he warned, as footsteps filed in from behind.  There was a muffled snicker, and a sound like boots scuffling on the floor.

Then the door closed, and the room went dark.

The lights were off?  Then what was the point of Shiro closing his eyes?

“Now,” Keith said.

Shiro’s eyes snapped open, eager to take in whatever the hell was going on.

He didn’t expect the room to be filled with people, mostly bridge crew and senior staff.  To the side, Krolia and Kolivan leaned against the wall, indulgent if a little bemused.

He also didn’t expect Sam and Matt Holt to be standing barely two feet in front of him, holding a huge platter with a cake and lit by candles.

From behind Shiro, Pidge started to sing.  _  “Happy birthday...” _

Immediately, the rest of the room, including the paladins behind him, picked up the song.  “...to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear-”

“-Shiro,” mostly from behind.

“-Captain,” from many of the crew.

“-Number One,” loudly and said extra fast from Coran.

_ ”-My Captain,” _ in the back of his mind, from a clearly amused Atlas.

“Happy birthday to you!”

Shiro gaped at the horde of people as applause and cheers broke out. “What?”

“I told you it was your own fault for not paying attention,” Keith said, openly smirking.  “You have access to a calendar. You could have known this was coming.”

Waggling the cake platter dangerously, Matt waggled his eyebrows.  “Come on, Shirogane. This thing’s big enough for everyone here. I might be super big and muscley now, but there’s a limit to what I can take.”

There was a flat snort from Pidge.

Shiro counted over the candles quickly and huffed when there were only six.  Clearly, someone had spilled the beans about the actual date. But if that was the only teasing he got, he’d take it.  So Shiro leaned forward to blow the candles out.

A flash from the side reminded him of Veronica and her phone.

Which also reminded him that his face was still covered in rainbow lipstick.

Pulling back, Shiro groaned and covered his face with his hands.  “You guys...”

Hunk laughed and came up from behind, pulling him into a tight hug, nearly yanking him right off his feet.  “You deserve some love, Birthday Boy.” Then he pulled Shiro backward, so he could be buried under a sea of hugs from all his team.

Laughing as well, Shiro gave into the moment.  He threw his head back and reached out, trying to pull as many of them in close as possible.

Allura grunted as she was smashed into Shiro’s side by the press of bodies.  Then, defiantly and with far more dignity than the moment deserved, she pressed another smacking kiss to Shiro’s ear.  

The absurdity of the situation hit, making Shiro laugh helplessly, to the point his grip on the others was holding him up more than keeping them close.  “That tickles,” he choked out.

“Oops,” Pidge said, completely flat.  She hung onto his shoulder as she leaned up to mirror Alura’s kiss in his other ear.

“Stop!” Shiro wheezed out, struggling to catch his breath around his laughter.

Matt cleared his throat, voice thick.  “Hey, this is cute and all, but I wasn’t kidding about this thing being heavy, and- woah, woah _ woah!” _

There was a suspicious, wet splat.

The room burst into angry cries, totally drowning out Matt’s immediate apologizes.  His cries only got louder and higher pitched as Hunk added an outright  _ bellow _ of fury to the noise.

But none of it managed to cover up Shiro’s howling laughter.

***

The next day, Shiro’s phone background changed.

It was a picture of the team, all holding pieces of the second cake Hunk made for the occasion, still wearing their neon-bright lipstick.

In the middle of it all, Shiro was crushed between them, holding up the rest of the cake using his prosthetic.  His face was absolutely covered in a couple dozen rainbow lip prints.

Shiro was also smiling.  Wide, hair wild, eyes bright.  More relaxed and at ease than he’d been in years.

In the coming months, when his job was hard, when people came back injured, when he wondered if he could handle being Captain, he looked at the photo.

It always helped.


End file.
